Sunday 19^th February, 2012

My day started with a bird. When I prepared my breakfast, I saw a parrot on the tree outside of the kitchen window. As my camera is always ready I could take a picture of it. Here the climate is mild and Coles Bay advertises with 100 sunny days a year. That is why there are lemons and tree tomatos growing in the garden of the host. Freshly starched I drove into the National Park and hiked to the Great Oyster Bay. On the way again parrot were flying from the trees. I hiked in the bay along the beach and enjoyed the view to the mountains of the park. Next stop was Cape Tourville. Here I had a stunning view over the peninsula. On a lucky day you see dolphins from here and also whales if there is the right season. I for sure saw none of them. I shortely walked to the light house and went back to Coles Bay. I wanted to do sightseeing in the center. I realized that there is only a restaurant, a shop and a bakery. They definitively live from tourism as there are a lot of accommodation possibilities. I decided to walk along Muris Beach. After 30 minutes I was at the other end and enjoyed a picnic. On the beach there were two cyclists and soon I realized that is was Diana and her husband. I rented my room from them. Diana asked me, if I would like some zucchini and potatoes. I accepted in thanks. I got the fresh vegetables from their garden. She told me that next to my room is a bush with Tassie berries and I should taste them. The taste is difficult to describe, but they are fine berries. In the late afternoon I drove to the Friendly Beaches. Here I stayed more than an hour and was fascinated from the stones. As I had a lot of time, I tried to build a little stone man. At one place there are stones looking like floor plates, all have the same size. Here I also met some older Australians. It is interesting how many Australians come to Tasmania for vacation. At the parking I saw again a jumping wallaby. In the evening I prepared a nice dinner with the fresh vegetables.

Thursday 16^th February, 2012

Yesterday I somehow noticed that today is “Dirty Thursday” and the carnival starts in Switzerland. I am missing the feeling for time here in Australia. The sky was clouded as I started driving towards Scottsdale. Here I stopped to buy food. Then I drove over the interior towards the sea. At Weldborough Pass I made a short stop and walked through the rain forest. There was much farming in this area and I saw many cattle herds. One was even escaped and stood directly on the road. My way led to St. Columa Falls. To watch the 90 m high waterfall closer, I walked to the viewpoint. At one spot there was a snake laying on the path. As I do not like snakes that much, to be precise I fear them, I stood still. The snake did not show any insight that it should get away. So I had to stamp hard on the ground to say: “Attention, enemy approaching!” After I took some pictures, it moved away. I then enjoyed a nice view to the falls. On the way back I met again an animal, but this time a wallaby. After this adventure I drive directly to St. Helens and informed me about the accommodation. The kind lady from the tourist information gave me a hint and I found immediately a room. As it was just past noon, I decided to drive to the Bay of Fires. The bay is 35 km long and has a white beach. From time to time there are also rocks covered with red lichen. Together with the turquoise sea it looked very interesting. I got the feeling of south sea holidays. I walked for an hour along the beach and went back as the tide was coming in. Then I enjoyed just sitting on the rocks and watch the waves breaking. In the evening I sat a bit at George Bay in St. Helens. Here I could observe rose grey parrots flying like mad through the air. There were also sea birds to watch.

Thursday 2^nd February 2012

As our bones were tired we made a lazier day. First we drove to the Dandenong National Park. At the car park we saw many cockatoos and parrots. You may feed them there with prepared feed. Suddenly, shhhh, and all cockatoos flew away. As I still felt the hiking from yesterday, we just made a little walk in the park. And again we observed a echinda. It seamed to take a nap. We drove on towards Melbourne, more exactly to St. Kilda. It is quite a way from the edge of the city until you reach the beach. The late afternoon and the evening we enjoyed with a long walk along the seaside. We closed the day observing the sunset.

Wednesday 1^st February, 2012

In the hostel we met yesterday Flo from Germany. He studies in St. Gall and is doing an exchange semester in Australia. As he did not travel by car he asked if he might join us. We sat off in the morning to the Prom, how the National Park is tenderly called by the locals. On the drive to Tidal River an Emu crossed the road, but it was too fast to take a picture. First we informed us in the tourist information which tracks were open. Many are closed as there were floods in the last year. For warm-up we walked to the Norman Bay. On the way we chased off a snake which wanted to take a sunbath. To have time to enjoy the view we went along the beach back to the car park. Now warmed up we hiked in the Lilly Pilly Gully. There was a dry rainforest. To get a better view over the Prom we went up Mount Bishop. Suddenly there was a loud noise in the bush beside us. We guessed that was a wallaby fleeing us. Even as the peak was only at 319 m, we had a spectacular view. Back at the car park we drove to Squeaky Beach. If you walk on that beach, it crunches below your feet. We were striding around the rocks and discussed what will be next. I was a bit sceptical about the suggestion to hike another 6 km as I felt already my sensible knee. So we decided to walk to a bay named Millers Landing. On the way a bird couple was trying to get feed from the tree beside the track and the cones dropped to the floor with a big crack. Understandable that we were a bit scared. But these kind of parrots we did not yet meet: black with yellow spots on the head and tail. We also met a few wallabies. To some we could get as close as 2 meters. Impressive. Down at the bay there were mangroves and black swans. As I still had some power left, we hiked up to another viewpoint. The track to the Vereker Outlook lead over many rocks and went up and up. The view was brilliant. On one side the sea and the islands, on the other the wide nature park. On the way back home we saw more kangaroos, cockatoos and other birds. It was a very nice day and I was surprised that I hiked in total about 20 km.

Monday 30^th January, 2012

We awoke in the early morning as the main street was just below our window. Sow we packed our stuff and went to the ferry. Unfortunately we were a bit too late so we had to wait for the next one. We used that time to have breakfast. With the ferry, a katamaran, we went to Sorrento. On the Mornington Peninsula we drove along the coast. We actually wanted to go to French Island to observe Koalas. But a few drops of rain made us to think it would be better just to continue driving. We enjoyed the nice view to the coast a went a bit walking. On the way we saw also a few parrots. Until noon we had luck with the weather as it was clear in between. But the rain started again as we drove over the bridge which connects Philipp Island with the mainland. As we reached the Koala Conservation Centre it was bucketing down. We waited for 10 minutes in the car and hopped it will get better. Our prayers were answered and the rain got fewer. We used this moment to run to the café. Then the weather went better and better and we finally could go to see the koalas, kangaroos, birds and insects. After we found accommodation, we went to the Nobbies Centre, a place were you could see seals. At least if you go at the right season. There was a very strong breeze and we had to make sure that our caps did not fly away. We followed a boardwalk and at one spot there were many people with cameras. Below the walk there sat a small, 15 cm tall penguin. The penguins here, the Little Penguin, is the smallest penguin species and they come back every evening from fishing. With some skill it was possible to take a picture of it. Also here we met some wild kangaroos, somehow there are many animals on this island. As it was already late in the evening, we decided not to go back to Cowes where our motel was. Instead we made a hike to the Swan Lake. As the name tells, you can observe swans there. But not white ones, as we know them. In Australia the swans are black. We could observe them and other water birds from two observing stands. On the way to the lake ww met an echinda. Konrad explained it as a egg-laying cross-bread between a hedgehog and a anteater. Can you imagine that? In the evening we went to the Penguin Parade. First we educated ourselves at the visitor center about penguins. OK, Konrad knew already quite a lot about them. The we went over the boardwalk to the tribune. As we were there very early, a ranger gave us the hint to go to the bottom. The seagulls made the opening act and entertained the visitors with their behaviour. It got colder and colder as we wore only short trousers and a jacket. Slowly the sun set, now it could not last long until the penguins arrive. But first we saw their enemy. There was a seal swimming in the waves and was waiting for dinner. Hopefully it did not eat too much! At 21:04 it started. The first of 652 Penguins plash at the shore. It sounds like many, but in the spring here there are many more. About 120 of the little animals passed beside us. Cheerful is their behaviour. They arrive with the waves. Then they wait until their group is big enough. Finally they walk in zigzag through the gulls, so they are not seen by the enemies. After the gulls they run as fast as possible over the beach and then up the hill to their nests. Some will walk up to a kilometer. As it started to rain after a while, we went back to the visitor center over the boardwalk. Beside we there many penguins in front of their nests or we could listen them chatting to each other. After we made sure that there is no penguin hidden below our car, we went back to the motel with many impressions.